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Who is Steve Hilton? Here’s how he has rebranded himself multiple times
The GOP nominee for California governor wants to deregulate businesses and overturn environmental rules. He’s also praised liberal workplace policies and once made the British Conservative Party more green.
Patchwork laws challenge nationwide hog production
The newest iteration of the long-overdue Farm Bill leaves intact California’s Prop 12. There’s an obscene amount of information within the bill, but animal welfare laws have the potential to shape the food systems here in America. A country unable to feed itself is a country unable to defend itself. In terms of Prop 12, […]
Analyst Names Jaguars’ ‘Most Promising Building Block’
Despite Trevor Lawrence's MVP-caliber rise, a surprising two-way star emerges as Jacksonville’s ultimate cornerstone. Discover why this versatile playmaker holds the key to the franchise's long-term dominance.
Areta Crowell: Behavioral Health Leader
In 1967, the California Legislature overwhelmingly approved the Lanterman Petris Short Act, which sped the emptying of state hospitals. Areta Crowell lived the origin story of that landmark law. Her job was to implement the law in Los
Kings Improve to 2-0, Late-Game Defense Stifles Warriors
Viktor Lahkin’s dominant interior presence and Emanuel Sharp’s clutch scoring erased a double-digit deficit, keeping Sacramento undefeated following a gritty defensive stand in the California Classic.
On the California Coast, a Picture-Perfect City Falls on Hard Times
Santa Monica is starting to bounce back from a state of “fiscal distress” including financial woes, declining international tourism and fading retail.
Chris Stapleton and Chaka Khan celebrate America's 250th at the L.A. Coliseum
Chris Stapleton was the headlining act at a Fourth of July benefit concert that also featured Smashing Pumpkins, Chaka Khan, Maren Morris and Queen Latifah.
NCAA president Charlie Baker floats regional approach to non-football sports
Conference realignment has turned college athletics into a much more national endeavor than it ever was previously. The Big Ten stretches from Southern California to New Jersey. The ACC includes a pair of teams on the Pacific coast. And the Big 12 has members located in both the deserts of the Southwest and the mountains…
Shekel squeeze: How offshore talent is keeping Israel's startup nation scaling upwards
While reducing costs is one reason to hire offshore employees, ONE Offshore explained that most companies outsource to expand their teams.
Biden-era illegal immigration drove up housing costs, Fed economists find
A Federal Reserve working paper finds unauthorized immigration during the Biden administration drove up home prices by 2.2% and rents by 1.4%.
It’s not clear how California’s education power shift will impact schools this year
After California lawmakers and the governor changed state law so the Department of Education is overseen by the governor instead of the state superintendent, it’s unclear how the move will impact the upcoming school year. "What we hope to see is a streamlining of the administration of public education in California," Assembly Education Chairwoman Assemblymember Darshana Patel, D-San Diego, said in an interview on California Politics 360.Patel helped carry the change through legislation at the state Capitol.
Assemblyman Jeff Gonzalez on his military service, veterans advocacy, and America 250 celebration
California Assemblyman Jeff Gonzalez, one of just a handful of veterans elected to the Legislature, reflected on his military service, his role in founding the Veterans Caucus, and his efforts to organize California’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
Top California public schools chief says he was left out of power shift decision
California’s top public schools official says he was left out of the negotiations and decision-making when the governor and state lawmakers approved a major education overhaul and stripped the Department of Education from his office.
California Politics 360 full episode | Major leadership shift for CA Education Dept.
As lawmakers and the governor passed the state’s spending plan for the year, they also approved a major change in who oversees the California Department of Education.
Billy G. Mills, among first Black politicians elected to L.A. City Council, dies
Billy Gene Mills was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1963 and served until 1974. He was also the first Black graduate of the UCLA Law School.
Inside California Politics: Will ballot measures drive turnout in November?
A month past the primary, election season has hit a lull before campaigns reach full swing in the fall. On Inside California Politics this week, host Nikki Laurenzo sat down with two political insiders to discuss various candidates and campaigns: Republican strategist Rob Stutzman and Democratic consultant Andrew Acosta.
Inside California Politics: Will ballot measures drive turnout in November?
(Inside California Politics) — A month past the primary, election season has hit a lull before campaigns reach full swing in the fall. On Inside California Politics this week, host Nikki Laurenzo s…
Carbajal’s Housing Spin Is Why Voters Are Tired of Politics
Where is the bill to reduce the regulatory burden that makes housing so expensive in California? Where is the bill to protect DACA recipients and Dreamers who grew up here?
Calmatters: Top Science Research Jobs Lack Diversity. A California College Program Aims To Curb That
CalMatters
Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs’ All-Star, is the straw that stirs the drink at Wrigley Field
Crow-Armstrong's MVP-caliber play has helped keep the Cubs (49-40) in a playoff position during a season littered with pitching injuries.
America celebrates its 250th birthday after another rough year
War, inflation and presidential grifting mark an Independence Day best put in the past. But America has made it through worse times, which lends perspective and offers hope for better times ahead.
Sergey Brin and 11 tech leaders fighting California's billionaire tax
Google cofounder Sergey Brin has poured $82 million into an effort to undercut California's proposed billionaire tax. He isn't alone in the fight.
America at 250: July 4th marked by celebration and political division
From SoCal beach parades to sweltering East Coast crowds, see how Americans balanced patriotism, World Cup fever and political division on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Gavin Newsom Signs Law Limiting Mental Health Diversion for People Accused of Crimes
A new California law gives just more flexibility to keep defendants in jail rather than releasing them to community-based mental health treatment programs.
Trump hails U.S. exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America 250
President Trump ushered in the 250th anniversary of American independence on Friday with soaring rhetoric about American exceptionalism before veering into a darkly political speech with warnings about a sinister threat of communism that evoked one of the country’s ugliest chapters.
Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math, science students Showcase Knowledge, skills gained at Summer Academy
GREENEVILLE – Five weeks of thorough preparation and mentoring by Tusculum University staff members with local high school students participating in a summer program resulted in high-caliber research projects that highlighted their hands-on learning experience. Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and
Newsom faces criticism for state's stance on trans athletes in girls' sports after SCOTUS ruling
Gavin Newsom's office says California will keep allowing trans athletes in girls sports despite the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling upholding bans.
California Zephyr: Best and worst parts of the 53-hour Amtrak train
I took the 53-hour California Zephyr, Amtrak's longest train, from Chicago to California. The views and bedroom booking were some of the best parts.
Letters: Mixed emotions over LeBron james leaving Lakers
Readers of the Los Angeles Times Sports section give their thought on LeBron James parting ways with the Lakers, Kawhi Leonard, Dave Roberts and the Sparks.
2027 NFL Draft Summer Scouting Report: Ian Strong, WR, California
Ian Strong heads west to California to improve his draft stock more after a dominant 2025 season.
Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding: Fans flock to Madison Square Garden for NYC nuptials
Swifties in NYC hope to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift and send their well wishes for Swift's upcoming nuptials.
Top science research jobs lack diversity. A California college program aims to curb that
The climate of STEM higher education programs can be unwelcoming for some minority populations.
Jimmy Butler believes he’ll return better than ever
Jimmy Butler is confident his comeback from ACL surgery will be a successful one. The Warriors star says he expects to return as one of the NBA’s top players while revealing his desire to finish his Hall of Fame-caliber career in Golden State.
Comedy saved Teruko Nakajima. Her ‘Made in America’ is saving others
From Cedars-Sinai psych ward to Upright Citizens Brigade stage, Teruko Nakajima turns a doctor’s “prescription” for comedy into an one-woman show.
Long Reads for the Long Weekend
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Happy Fourth of July weekend! As has been a tradition of mine going back to the beginning of the EntStrategyGuy website, I’m sharing my favorite long reads of the last year, like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Let’s dive right in! Subscribe “Different Prices for the Same Ride: How Uber and Lyft Use AI to Get More Money Out of You“ by Derek Kravitz in Consumer Reports I don’t think surveillance pricing, like the kind described in this brilliant Consumer Reports article, is long for the world—it’s toxically unpopular—but we’ll see if either party takes on this issue. If I ran a political party focused on affordability, I would focus on a few pro-consumer and pro-market policies: Banning non-compete agreements. Ending surveillance pricing Eliminating junk fees (read more here...) Ensuring “right to repair” for consumer (and military!) products Capping excessive app store fees Stopping digital/algorithmic price-fixing tools. Preventing automatic subscription price increases. And more. If you want to fight inflation, there are a lot of great ways to do it quickly. Speaking of higher prices... “Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy“ by Matt Stoller in BIG Again, I think a political party should focus on lowering prices for consumers. And deals like this—Walmart making a deal/forcing Pepsi to offer the lowest prices at its stores and nowhere else—hypothetically lower prices at Walmart...but raise them everywhere else. “15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road“ by Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler in CalMatters CalMatters does terrific reporting in California, something the Golden State desperately needs more of, and this article is a great example of that. “PugLips: The next insanely popular thing you’ve never heard of…” by Simon Carless in Game Discover Co I thought that this parody article (and yes, it’s a parody, but I was definitely unsure at first) was hilarious and totally nailed how much tech/business journalism feels these days. Actually, three of my favorite articles this year were on hype in the video game industry, including Georg Zoller’s “The Video Game Industries Very Dark Night”—which I linked to recently and wrote a follow-up here—and Owen Mahoney’s “Derek Zoolander, Videogame Exec”. In particular, I like Mahoney’s focus on user experience as a guide to what trends will actually grab hold of customers. “The Matrix Lies“ by Evan Shapiro in Media War & Peace Evan Shapiro’s first person account of his experience with AI was hilarious. I think LLMs capabilities have significantly grown from last summer, and yet...my editor/researcher just had an abysmal experience using an LLM to do a quite basic task (which our LLM normally does each week) and the LLM made a mistake on every single data entry...along with seven different mistakes affecting twelve of the twenty or so entries, including mistakes that are explicitly spelled out in the prompt. That’s a brutal failure rate. Again, if you use AI/LLM for data collection, you need to take a lot of extra steps to verify and check the data. “Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive“ by Matthew Frank in The Ankler I thought Matthew Frank’s pitch to head across America to visit theaters sounded insane aggressive at the time—at least it felt that way to someone a decade older than him; man, to be in your twenties again, am I right?—but I knew the result would be great. And it was, a terrific feature by a great young writer. Also, I loved Matthew’s recent article on who’s getting the precious few entry level jobs in Hollywood. (Hint: nepotism.) “Disney erased FiveThirtyEight“ and “Did Las Vegas get too greedy?” by Nate Silver in Silver Bulletin I love media history and analysis, and there’s no one better to get the history of FiveThirtyEight than from Nate Silver, who wrote about his personal experience in one of my favorite pieces from this year. I also loved Nate’s breakdown of what’s causing Vegas’ woes, but I’ll offer one criticism, summarized as “Might I suggest antitrust?” Many centrists/center-right/libertarian thinkers (Nate is self-described as the latter) often don’t consider consolidation or antitrust as factors in policy issues like housing, America’s military readiness, or, in this case, Las Vegas. Even if libertarians want to debunk antitrust/consolidation concerns, I’d love to read that debunking. In this case, Vegas is incredibly consolidated (though it also has been for a long time) and I’d have loved to read Nate at least contending with this factor, since he addresses almost every other potential factor for Vegas’ decline. “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal“ by Robinson Meyer in Heatmap News I’m a big supporter of carbon removal efforts, but this nascent industry faces a lot of headwinds, including this big move most recently. I think it’s clear that solar panels and batteries should be able to get the world to its carbon footprint goals, but effective carbon renewal remains necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. “AI is killing the cheap smartphone“ by David Oks LLMs and AI will impact the world in ways we’re not ready for, and already, third world countries are seeing the prices of cheap cellphones skyrocket due to the cost of chips skyrocketing. This article by David Oks is a terrific breakdown. “100 Days of Madness: Netflix, Paramount, Warner and the Future of Hollywood“ by Wade Major at Hollywood Heretic Wade Major dove deep into Hollywood/streaming’s financials in this must read piece. Not that I agree with everything in this article (read my take on Warner Bros./Paramount here) but the analysis is top notch. I think many people discount how quality thinking, regardless of the argument/conclusion, will make you a better thinker. “Erased by the UFC: Frank Shamrock, The MMA GOAT of the 20th Century“ by Nate Wilcox in The MMA Draw Newsletter Growing up playing the UFC fighting game on the Dreamcast, Frank Shamrock was my favorite MMA fighter, and this history/tribute to him was great. Other Fun Reads “The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt“ by Craig Fehrman at Defector “Unmasking the Sea Star Killer“ by Craig Welch at bioGraphic “What Could Save the Industry? Fin-Syn“ by Richard Rushfield in The Ankler Alex Rollins Berg in Underexposed on movie bumpers, pillow shots, Disney trash cinema, cult films, and Casablanca. David H. Montgomery in YouGov’s The Surveyor on punctuation marks, condiments, dinosaurs, and comic strips and kids media. “How Medium finally pivoted its way to profitability“ and “Why the best journalists on YouTube are all former Vox employees“ by Simon Owens in Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter “It’s Not Just You, Netflix Shows Have Gotten Slightly Shorter: Here’s What the Data Says“ by Kasey Moore at What’s on Netflix “Numlock Awards: How Diane Warren became the biggest loser in Oscar history“ by Nathaniel Rakich and “Numlock Awards: The Oscar Bait era is over. The Oscar Chum era is here.” by Walt Hickey & Michael Domanico at Numlock Awards
Hiltzik: What does the GOP have against children?
The conservative war on child health starts with the anti-vaccine campaign and proceeds to cutbacks in nutrition assistance and narrowed access to healthcare.
How the FIFA World Cup is providing a boost for L.A. businesses
The FIFA World Cup has given L.A. businesses a lot of opportunities to find new customers, win contracts and grow their capacity.
Trump refashions America's 250th as a celebration of himself
Historians say the nation's 250th anniversary has become a politicized spectacle, a celebration of an imperial presidency.
Valley Golf Center owners say it's been an 'honor' as business closes
KMPH Fox 26 is the Central Valley's news leader, covering Fresno, California and the surrounding area, including Clovis, Madera, Hanford, Visalia, Biola, Kerman, Tranquillity, San Joaquin, Reedley, Coalinga, Avenal, Lemoore, Tulare, Selma, Caruthers, Tollhouse, Three Rivers, Porterville, and Merced.
LeBron James’ Lakers rift stemmed from failed Russell Westbrook saga
LeBron James’ tenure with the Lakers is over after he informed the NBA franchise he’d spent the past eight seasons with that he’ll sign elsewhere in free agency. While both...
Business Journal wins two California Journalism Awards
The Business Journal earned two California Journalism Awards for Frank Lopez's reporting on Central Valley agriculture and the wine industry.
How Roberts led a fractured Supreme Court to wins for the right and defeats for Trump
In President Trump's second year back in the White House, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the court punctured his claim to have power with no limits.
Goal of higher voter turnout remains elusive in California
Counties are required to complete their counting by Thursday
Facing setbacks and resistance, Trump presses bid to reshape elections on multiple fronts
President Trump has spent months waging an unusually aggressive campaign to reshape how states run elections.
STEM isn't always welcoming to diversity. A California college program aims to curb that
A state-funded program is trying to diversify the sciences by providing mentors, relationship-building, stipends and more.
Goal of higher voter turnout remains elusive in California
Counties are required to complete their counting by Thursday
Goal of higher voter turnout remains elusive in California as changes have extended ballot counting
California has enacted many changes over the years that were intended to boost voter turnout
The Calif. Dutch Bros franchisee who ousted MAGA in Shasta County
Shasta County has been ruled by a heavily conservative city council since 2020.
I fly the American flag because no political faction owns patriotism
'As a former Superior Court judge, I swore to support and defend the constitutions of the United States and California against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That is a precept all should embrace and celebrate, flag or no flag,' writes an L.A. Times reader.
Croatia criticised for ‘unambitious’ changes to 2022 science law
Croatia’s science ministry has been accused of a lack of ambition, and even incompetence, over proposed changes to the country’s 2022 science law. Critics say an opportunity has been missed to fix wider shortcomings in the research and universities system.“This law, like all the previous ones, will not significantly change the current state of science in Croatia,” Vlatko Silobrčić, a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences, told Science Business. “A small shift here and there will not have a significant impact.”The 2022 law introduced multi-year block grant financing of research, based on results, and changes intended to boost employment and career progression for researchers and lecturers. But implementation of the law has been uneven. “It became apparent that certain of its provisions were subject to different interpretations by higher education institutions and scientific institutes,” the science ministry said in its proposal for change. “This caused legal uncertainty in the system, administrative difficulties in implementation and, in certain cases, unequal treatment of teachers, scientists and students.”Most of the proposed amendments deal with technicalities in hiring and promoting staff, such as extending the committee deadlines from 60 to 90 days, or allowing applicants to cite all of their achievements and not only those since their last appointment.Both the ministry and Croatian media highlighted changes that would raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 years and allow part-time students 15 year rather than 10 years to finish their studies.The change to retirement age has been criticised for reinforcing a weakness in the system. According to Matko Marušić, professor emeritus at the University of Split, this will “allow unproductive teachers to advance and work longer, while hindering and discouraging productive ones.”A longtime campaigner for excellence-based meritocracy, he sees little hope in the new legislation. “I am not optimistic that things will improve,” he told Science Business. “As recent changes to the law in Croatia show, the legal framework is becoming increasingly hypocritical and harmful.”For Marušić, who analyses Croatia's university system in a recently published book, the situation is “unfavourable and constantly deteriorating” due to the criteria used for academic advancement.“The key criterion for advancement should be scientific productivity,” he said. “In Croatia [. . .] scientific criteria are increasingly lowered, and ineffective and absurd criteria such as waiting times for promotion and age limits for remaining in a job are promoted.” He would also like to see better criteria for the quality of teaching at universities. “In practice, teaching is not monitored or evaluated,” he said, estimating that up to a third of teaching simply does not take place. “Under the guise of university autonomy and bad laws, universities and faculties are allowed to earn additional money by increasing enrolment quotas that have nothing to do with the needs of the labour market.” Lack of ambitionDora Kršul, a reporter at Telegram.hr who covers science policy in Croatia, finds the rationale for changes “bizarre.” “The ministry responsible for supervising the uniform application of the law is changing the law because it is being implemented unevenly,” she said. “This primarily speaks to the power relationship in the sphere of science and higher education in Croatia, that is, the question arises as to who actually manages this system.”Rather than raising quality, she continued, the changes appear to be designed to help vocational and applied universities who have not been complying with the law.The Independent Union of Research and Higher Education Employees of Croatia said that the changes were “unambitious” and represent a missed opportunity for more important changes. “We think some of the changes are even negative,” it said in its statement on June 25. One of these is introduction of an “assistant” job title that allows people to be hired only for the duration of a project. Related articles: Elections to top science bodies test Croatia’s gender equality in researchSlovakia revises R&D approach to increase focus on competitivenessLatvia pilots citizen engagement in research grant evaluationsThe union’s president, Tvrtko Smital, who was part of the 15-member working group tasked with drafting the changes, told the local media there was a “worrying lack of ambition” in the process, and “lack of competence” in terms of research experience and understanding the problems in the system.“There is no clear will to deal with the problems,” said Smital, an assistant professor of marine and environmental sciences at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb. “It’s a combination of unambitiousness and incompetence,” he went on, expressing his “deep frustration” with the situation. “There is no strategy, no clear thinking, and money is not being spent optimally.”Croatia’s science ministry has not responded to requests for comment.
Southern California’s total tobacco bans aren’t helping public health
Instead of pursuing tobacco bans, state health officials should prioritize proven harm reduction policies.
The Next Chapter for Founder-Led Beauty Brands
At The Business of Beauty Global Forum 2026, Unilever Prestige CEO Mary Carmen Gasco-Buisson joined K18 founder and CEO Suveen Sahib and Tatcha founder Vicky Tsai to discuss scaling founder-led beauty brands.
New Costco approved in California, but some locals say location is 'unnecessary'
A proposed Costco warehouse and gas station in Downey, California, cleared a key approval, but many residents say another location isn't needed.
Laid off federal scientists keep maps and data visuals online with crowdfunded money
Federal employees axed during waves of cuts by the Trump administration have fought back against the dismantling of a key climate science website.
Trump's reported $2.2 billion in 2025 income sets off ethics alarms
Critics described President Trump's money-making ventures as "bribery" and "corruption." The White House denied any conflicts of interest.
The World Cup is providing connection and inspiration Americans need
My family did not plan to make the World Cup the centerpiece of our summer, but once it began, we couldn't stop watching.
Trump administration sues California, Virginia over new gun laws
Attorneys general in both states vowed to defend their gun laws
Alabama target, top cornerback reportedly makes commitment decision
Top cornerback prospect Hayden Stepp has reportedly announced a commitment between Alabama, California, and Oregon.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rent crusade might be coming to your city
Rent control movements surge in Massachusetts, California
Meta plots AI cloud business to challenge Amazon, Microsoft and Google
Meta plots AI cloud business to challenge Amazon, Microsoft and Google
Florida is ‘on fire’ with corporate relocations, experts say
Blanca Commercial Real Estate CEO Tere Blanca and DaGrosa Capital Partners Chair Joe DaGrosa speak to Fox News Digital about how a California commercial exodus has followed a residential one to the Sunshine State.
The Download: Anthropic launches Claude Science, and California’s carbon manure math
Plus: The US has lifted restrictions on Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models.
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
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